BIRD Foundation Information

BIRD is an acronym for Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development. The BIRD Foundation's mission is to stimulate, promote and support industrial R&D of mutual benefit to the U.S. and Israel. Our primary vehicles include matching grant program and matchmaking services supporting Israeli and U.S. companies engaged in joint R&D projects. We take no equity in the joint projects and expect repayment only from actual revenues generated. BIRD supports approximately 20 projects annually. The BIRD Foundation was established by the U.S. and Israeli governments in 1977 to generate mutually beneficial cooperation between the private sectors of the U.S. and Israeli high tech industries, including start-ups and established organizations. BIRD's scope extends to Agriculture, Communications, Life Sciences, Electronics, Electro-optics, Software, Homeland Security, Renewable and Alternative Energy and other sectors of the hi-tech industry. Since its inception in 1977, BIRD has approved over 940 projects with leading companies in the U.S and Israel. The cumulative sales of products developed through BIRD projects have exceeded $10 billion. US companies and organizations that enjoyed BIRD grants include: American Red Cross, Applied Materials, Avaya, Bayer Pharmaceutical, Becton Dickinson, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Eastman Kodak, General Dynamics, General Electric, Guidant, IBM, J&J, KLA- Tencor, Molex, Motorola, Procter & Gamble, SanDisk, Spansion, Telcordia, Texas Instruments, Tyco and others. You too can take advantage of the business opportunities offered by the BIRD Foundation. We can help you find your strategic partner, whether technological or marketing. Furthermore, our financial support and request for repayment only on the basis of actual revenues generated, demonstrates our commitment and our willingness to risk sharing.